"famine, scarcity of food, want of grain, Mt. 24:7; famine, hunger, famishment, Lk. 15:17; Rom. 8:35"
Definition and meaning
famine, scarcity of food, want of grain, Mt. 24:7; famine, hunger, famishment, Lk. 15:17; Rom. 8:35
In the original Greek the word is written: λιμός
Historical context
Rome had controlled Judea since 63 BC. Herod the Great rebuilt the Temple into one of the most magnificent structures in the ancient world — and simultaneously murdered members of his own family. The common people paid multiple layers of taxation and were politically powerless. Into that world a carpenter from Galilee began teaching that the kingdom of God had arrived.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of limos (G3042) across the King James Bible.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land;
And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Now there came a dearth over all the land of Egypt and Chanaan, and great affliction: and our fathers found no sustenance.
And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
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Common questions
Strong's G3042 (limos) is a Greek word that means: famine, scarcity of food, want of grain, Mt. 24:7; famine, hunger, famishment, Lk. 15:17; Rom. 8:35 It appears 12 times in the King James Bible.
The word limos (G3042) appears 12 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G3042 is limos, a Greek word defined as: famine, scarcity of food, want of grain, Mt. 24:7; famine, hunger, famishment, Lk. 15:17; Rom. 8:35. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
limos is a Greek word found in the New Testament.